Market Research

Criteria 1: Executive Summary
(The title page, table of contents and executive summary should be professionally organised. The executive summary needs to contain the purposes and structurally present the whole report in one page and in a few paragraphs maximum)

Criteria 2: Review of Marketing Plan
Reviewing a marketing plan involves examining the overall marketing plan and objectives, identifying the role of advertising and promotion, performing the competitive analysis, and assessing the environmental influences (summary based on Market Campaign under analysis).

Criteria 3: Situation Analysis
Based on Market Research (This section should demonstrate the ability to desk search for and use of relevant knowledge and skills required to critically examine a market, prospective consumers, industry, competitor and demand for a specific brand). This is an in-depth analysis of the firm (company), external factors and current IMC strategies and campaigns etc.

a. Internal Analysis: Assesses the firm and relevant areas involving the product/service offering
Assessment of:
 Capability to develop and implement promotional program
 Brand image and implications for promotion
 A product’s relative strengths and weaknesses
 Reviews previous promotional programs and results
 Unique selling points or benefits

b. External Analysis: Focuses on characteristics of a firm’s customers, market segments, positioning strategies, and competitors
Assessment of:
 Characteristics of the firm’s customers, including their perceptions, attitudes, lifestyles, and criteria for making purchase decisions
 Market segments
 Positioning strategies
 Competitors
Key elements of the external analysis include customer analysis, competitive analysis, and environmental analysis (PEST).

Criteria 4: IMC Objectives
IMC Objectives (Provide long-term goals where marketing campaigns are intended to drive up the value of your brand over time) (apply SMART approach for objectives)

a. Objectives in the Analysis of the Communication Process
Assessment of:

1. Marketing objectives

 Determine what is to be accomplished by the overall marketing program in terms of sales, market share, or profitability

2. Communication objectives

 Determine what the firm seeks to accomplish with its promotional program
 Stated in terms of:
I. Nature of the message to be communicated
II. Specific communication effects to be achieved

Criteria 5: Target Audience
Target Audience (Target audience should be defined as summarised in lectures and drawing on your previous marketing segmentation knowledge).
Target market selection is done after evaluating market opportunities and doing a competitive analysis. It has direct implications on a firm’s advertising and promotional efforts.

a. The process by which marketers develop different marketing strategies to satisfy different customer needs is called target marketing.
Assessment of:
 1. Identifying markets with unfulfilled needs - In this step consumers with similar lifestyles, needs, and wants are isolated and increases the marketers knowledge of their specific requirements.
I. Marketer identifies the specific needs of groups of people (or segments);
II. Selects one or more of these segments as a target;
III. Isolates consumers with similar lifestyles, needs, and the like;
IV. Increased marketer’s knowledge of consumers’ specific requirements.

 2. Determining market segmentation - In this step a market is divided into distinct groups that have common needs and will respond similarly to a marketing action.
I. Dividing a market into distinct groups with common needs, who respond similarly to a marketing situation
II. Customer characteristics segmentation criteria:
– Geographic: Dividing the market on the basis of region, city size, metropolitan area, and/or density
– Demographic: Dividing the market on the basis of age, sex, family size, marital status, etc.
– Socioeconomic: Dividing the market on the basis of income, education, or occupation
– Psychographic: Dividing the market on the basis of personality, lifecycles, and/or lifestyles
Note: Markets can also be divided by customer buying situations
 Buying situations segmentation criteria
 Outlet type
 Benefits sought
 Usage
 Awareness and intentions
 Behavior

 3. Selecting a market to target - This step determines how many segments to enter, and which segments offer the most potential.
I. Determine how many segments to enter
a. Utilizing market coverage alternatives:
• Undifferentiated marketing: Ignoring segment differences and offering just one product or service to the entire market
• Differentiated marketing: Involves marketing in a number of segments, developing separate marketing strategies for each
• Concentrated marketing: Selecting a segment and attempting to capture a large share of this market
II. Determine which segments offer the most potential
a. Selecting the most attractive segment
• Sales potential of segment
• Opportunities for growth
• Competition analysis
• Ability to compete
• Ability to market to this group

Criteria 6: Develop an IMC plan to budget
Using a minimum of three IMC variables one of which to include a broadcast, print or internet/ interactive media. Develop approximate budget for each variable (suggest using table).
Developing the Integrated Marketing Communications Program—The most involved and detailed part of the promotional planning process occurs at this stage as decisions have to be made regarding the role and importance of each IMC tool and their coordination with one another. Each IMC tool has its own set of objectives, budget, messaging, and media strategy (each one selected is a “strategy” and should be named and placed in its own dedicated sub-heading).
These include:
 Advertising message and media strategy and tactics
 Direct marketing message and media strategy and tactics
 Interactive/Internet Marketing message and media strategy and tactics
 Sales promotion message and media strategy and tactics
 Public relations/publicity strategy and tactics
 Personal selling—sales strategy and tactics
Budget Determination:
 Set tentative marketing communications budget (total amounts)
 Allocate tentative budget across different media, geographic markets, and time periods (specific)
 Budget may not be finalized until specific promotional-mix strategies are developed
IMC Implementation (table format):
Specific IMC Activity Plan (what) Person / Department Responsible (who) Budget Allocation (How much) Completion Date (when) Details
Public Relations & Promotion:
[Add Media Type]
[Add Media Type]
[Add Media Type]

Identity Building Initiatives:
[Add Media Type]
[Add Media Type]
[Add Media Type]

Online Initiatives:
[Add Media Type]
[Add Media Type]
[Add Media Type]

Advertising Initiatives:
[Add Media Type]
[Add Media Type]
[Add Media Type]

Criteria 7: Develop a Creative Strategy and Mock-Up
Detail and explain the rationale for your selected creative strategy. Design a creative mock-up of your broadcast, print or internet/interactive media campaign (consider elements of “divergence” as well where possible!)

Creative Strategy Development (consider steps PER strategy completed prior):
III. Advertising Campaigns—Most advertisements are part of a series of messages that make up an IMC or advertising campaign, which consists of a set of interrelated and coordinated marketing communication activities that center on a single theme or idea that appears in different media across a specified time period. The determination of a strong idea for the campaign theme is very important, as it is the central message that will be communicated in all of the advertising and other promotional activities and thus set the tone or direction for the development of the individual ads that make up the campaign